Saddam's execution blamed in boy's death

Jan. 4, 2007, 12:41AM
Saddam's execution blamed in boy's death
10-year-old apparently tried to mimic event he'd seen on TV

By RUTH RENDON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

A 10-year-old boy who apparently was mimicking the execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein accidentally hanged himself on New Year's Eve, authorities said.

Webster police Lt. Tom Claunch said officers were called to an apartment in the 800 block of NASA Parkway about 7:30 p.m. on Sunday and found the boy dead.

Sergio Pelico's mother told police he had watched a report on Saddam's death on a Telemundo news broadcast before he hanged himself, Claunch said.

"It appears to be accidental," he said of the boy's death. "Our gut reaction is that he was experimenting."
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4443091.html

The other story in LBN this morning has been posted by Paagal Kutta concerning a young girl in India, who consciously hung herself, overwrought about the event she had witnessed on tv with the hanging of Saddam Hussein, the former US ally.

That link is here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2674752

AFP
Monday, January 01, 2007 17:18 IST

MULTAN (Pakistan): A young boy who tried to imitate hanging scenes from the execution video of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein died in central Pakistan, police said on Monday.

Mubashar Ali, 9, hanged himself, while re-enacting Hussein's hanging with the help of elder sister, 10, after tying a rope to a ceiling fan and his neck in his home in Rahim Yar Khan district on Sunday, a local police official said.

The father of the deceased boy said that his children had been watching the video of Saddam Hussein's execution on television and attempted to imitate the hanging as other family members thought they were playing in another room ...

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1072203

There were several DU posts on this a few days back. I'd guess there are probably additional cases unreported by media.

<clips>

...A 15-year-old girl from eastern India also hanged herself, reportedly in response to Saddam's execution.

"She said they had hanged a patriot. We didn't take her seriously when she told us that she wanted to feel the pain Saddam did during the execution," the girl's father, Manmohan Karmakar, told AFP by phone from the town of Kharda.

He said his daughter, called Moon Moon, had become extremely depressed after watching Saddam's execution on television.

"She kept watching the scene over and again and didn't take food on Saturday and Sunday to protest the hanging," he said.

Police superintendent Pravin Kumar confirmed the suicide, saying the girl had strung herself up from a ceiling fan and was found dead early on Wednesday.

The communist-ruled state of West Bengal has condemned Saturday's execution of Saddam, with thousands of people taking to the streets.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=175316

gruesome as it is--it's the truth.

Now, that's a hell of a statement.

I didn't realize one experimented with hanging.

...between their incessant airing of the Saddam snuff film and this child's death?

Probably not...:grr:

....as used to be all the rage.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Hey!! Let's blame re-runs of Gunsmoke. They hang people on that too.

...and why did this kid's parents let him watch such a macabre example of barbarism? ...and did the kid miss the end? ...you know...the part where it ended in death...

Oooo...maybe it was Ozzy's fault or maybe there's really a video game we can blame...yes...blech.
Madspirit

.. actually has occurred again and again in the US, as kids playing Cowboy imitated the hangings they saw in movie theaters or on TV. :(

A) For letting him see images of the execution, and

B) For not watching him more closely.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/04/national/main2329468.shtml

Texas Boy Dies Mimicking Saddam's Hanging
Cops: 10-Year-Old Hung Himself From Bunk After Watching News About Execution


HOUSTON, Jan. 4, 2007

(CBS/AP) Police and family members said a 10-year-old boy who died by hanging himself from a bunk bed was apparently mimicking the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Sergio Pelico was found dead Sunday in his apartment bedroom in the Houston-area city of Webster, said Webster police Lt. Tom Claunch. Pelico's mother told police he had previously watched a news report on Saddam's death.

"It appears to be accidental," Claunch said. "Our gut reaction is that he was experimenting."

An autopsy of the fifth-grader's body was pending.

more...

older. It was so tragic. :cry:

hanging from a ceiling fan somewhere.

They said it looked accidental - like she started to fall from the top bunk and got tangled in her karate belt hung over the post. What was an even greater tragedy was that my 13yo nephew was the one who found her. Their mom had him go up to get her because she didn't come down when called for dinner.

It's horrible when it happens, but it's not always because they're imitating something they saw on TV.

course you are correct that they aren't always because they are imitating something they saw. The article just jogged my memory on a previous article and I was trying to figure out if it was the same or different. I imagine these types of "hanging" deaths will be making the headlines for a while, especially if the circumstances are cloudy.

So young. Very very sad.

The boy in Pakistan you're thinking of, then a teenage girl in India, now this one.

the boy in Pakistan was sort of role playing the Saddam thing?

All very sad either way.

.

is going to be tied to Saddam somehow, I'll bet. Folks are going to forget that it's also one of the most common suicide methods out there. :P

"It appears to be accidental," Claunch said. "Our gut reaction is that he was experimenting."
..
He said Sergio had watched TV news with another uncle on Saturday and asked the uncle about Saddam's death.

"His uncle told him it was because Saddam was real bad," Gustavo said. "He (Sergio) said, 'OK.' And that was it."

Experimenting, my ass.

i'm sure forensics know very well that kids are "experimenting" w. this to enhance masturbation but what's the point of putting it in the family's face, hey, your kid was a weirdo who died whacking off

blaming it on the saddam execution is probably easier on the family

i thought when possible or when there is any doubt in these matters, it was considered kindness to rule it an accident rather than suicide

setting such an excellent example for all of us to follow.

It probably was an accident, but you know the MSM...

This is just like the kid who set fire to his trailer after 'watching' Bevis & Butthead

Except his family didn't have cable and he had never seen it.

Tying every hanging to Saddam's execution will be this year's shark attack frenzy.

That is, if he was doing it to mimic the execution.

If it's just a plain old suicide, that's sad.

That's one of the rules. Smart kids can do stupid things, unfortunately.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2106272&page=1

a friend of mine just lost her 17 year old to this 'game' :cry:

Ahh - yes - I had my little phase of playing this game. I think we called it the 'pass out' game or 'tingling'. Anyway, yeah it was a fun strange sensation at a time before I ever had used drugs, but I had a couple of scares doing this w/ friends and realized it was not cool.

One thing I have NEVER seen is somebody try to do it with some kind of strangulation device such as a belt or whatever (as the kid in the article apparently did). That sounds like a recipe for death if I ever heard one. The way I used to do it - which I guess was 'safe' in comparison was to basically use my own hands around the sides of my neck while leaning against a bed. That way, when I went 'out' I would fall onto the soft bed and obviously my hands would let go.

Yeah, there was definitely a strong tingling sensation, a floating and euphoria. I remember often coming to with a smile on my face.

I would say, by comparison doing Ecstasy is a much safer bet.

He used a belt.

Which is basically beating off and the strangling yourself with a belt as you blow. Generally, the participant is going to be alone and the risk of death is much greater than the 'fainting game'. Not that I'd call the 'fainting game' safe.

the purpose of the game is not a momentary high that lasts less than a second, as the story claims

the purpose is enhanced orgasm and it definitely lasts more than a second, which is why it's so dangerous

i guess because the information in the article seems to all come from one woman, whose son seems to have picked up this fetish from other boys at camp

they do it just for the momentary "rush."

I talked to a few teens about it.

self strangulation during masturbation is not the same thing as this game. This game is usually done by groups of friends (to each other) because it feels 'weird'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choking_game

The choking game, also known by large number of other names, is not technically a game but a schoolyard activity involving the inducement of unconsciousness or near unconsciousness by restriction of the supply of oxygen to the brain. The highly dangerous activity is traditional and world-wide, passed down for generations in schoolyards, summer camps and neighborhoods. Practitioner demographics are strongly weighted towards juvenile males but includes females and adults of both genders. The activity has been responsible for a large number of juvenile deaths and permanent neurological disabilities almost entirely among the juvenile male cohort. The attractions are manifold: it is done as a dare, it can induce a brief sense of euphoria, it is reported to enhance erotic feelings, it is amusing to some to watch others losing consciousness or behaving erratically, the prospect of an altered state of consciousness, the experience of a brownout or, more recently, copycatting elements of the film Flatliners. It is also free, legal and appears innocuous to those without a proper understanding of the mechanism involved.

more at the link


I'm a bit zealous on this topic because it hits close to home, and I don't want any other teens to kill themselves for this dangerous "thrill."

something I grapple with. I know, from doing it myself that there is no physical way to stop your kid from having the opportunity to do this. And even if they do it, they can easily hide it - or it just may never come up. I don't have kids yet, but I am always wondering what I can do to minimize my kids desire to take stupid risks like this.

Possibly giving him 'healthier' outlets to take risks? Giving him accurate information? One thing I do NOT want to do is lie to the kid or threaten him. I guess just giving the kid information (like the one contained in the wiki article) and talking to him about it and trying to make him understand the potential consequences (and exactly how they can come about).

Go to your local medical library and find autopsy records with PHOTOS of people who have strangled to death.

It's no longer a "game," if the kid is TERRIFIED to even think about choking for fun. It might scar, but at least it will prevent your child from killing himself in an accident.

Sometimes a healthy scare is needed to impress upon children the seriousness of their potential actions.

====

When my father found out that I was drinking and driving at the age of 17, he promptly took me down to the local hospital emergency room on a Saturday night and forced me to sit there witnessing the carnage until 3am. I never forgot the incident and haven't had a drop to drink before driving either. I love my Dad for having the balls to teach me a valuable lession and not pulling some "let's talk about it" ineffectual intervention.

I've always felt that trying to 'scare the living crap' out of kids can backfire. For example, showing a kid 'refer madness' and claiming that "this can happen to you" will almost inevitably lead to the kid learning through observation or experience that it is complete over dramatized bullshit.

Then the kid may believe you 'over sold' him on just about everything that can be dangerous and will disregard it all. That's why I tend to not like the 'theatrics' involved with scare tactics.

However, your example of viewing *real* human beings suffering the results of those actions certainly seems the way to go. Although, again, you could show the kid the horrific consequences of skateboarding or bike riding - what do you tell them when they realize how dangerous those activities can be?

A 16-year-old daughter of a family friend was recently found dead, no formal determination of cause but it is thought to be the result of playing this game. The funeral was one of the more horrific experiences of my life.

Sounds like a Darwin award, though...

"...child who was probably raised to hate by his parents."

How did you get that from what's posted?

into that fucking ridiculous statement, don't you?

You won't say "good" because you assume the kid was raised to hate? Isn't that a little, oh, hateful?

You win the internets

Boy hangs himself 'like Saddam'
By: Agencies
January 3, 2007

http://www.mid-day.com/news/world/2007/january/149460.htm

but there some posters here who should really go live in a cave and never, ever bother humanity again.

The 10 year old would NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO IMITIATE if the parents were keeping a closer eye on what the kid was watching on TV. Ten year olds are not equipped to understand the finality of death and should not be exposed to glorified violence, which is exactly what Saddam's death/torture porn was for US consumption.

J

It was all over news channels which parents rarely monitor. Further most parents were still in bed on Saturday morning when they bombarded us with those grotesque images. It was fucking disgusting and a violation of all human sensitivities. Of course as long as they don't show Janet's boob in prime time or use the F word, everything is OK.

The line "His uncle told him it was because Saddam was real bad," Gustavo said. "He (Sergio) said, 'OK.' And that was it." hit me. This is all subjective, but this child could have done something wrong and been told he was bad, or it could have been a routine statement made by any of his parents or siblings. Could this child have internalized the uncle's earlier statement and thought that because "he was real bad", he deserved the same punishment.

I know the way I felt about my self because of my targeting by my family. But more so I remember when I was little that my father use to talk about the green eyed monster, meaning jealousy. Since I was the only person in the family to have green eyes, I felt he was talking about me and that I was somehow a monster. It is the way children think, and we have to be careful in our communications with them.

Children do understand things differently than adults do and we have to be careful of what we say around them but this kid was 10, not 6. ...and how did the kid miss out on the part where the hanging led to death? ...and why was he watching this anyway?
Madspirit

it depends on many factors. Also children mature at different speeds. Who knows what this child was thinking? I don't. But I do know that children have a different concept of death than adults do also. I not only raised two children of my own, but took classes on child development, psychology, and etc, plus worked in child welfare. I worked with one child that had already attempted to kill at the age of ten and was on constant watch for weapons both for doing harm to himself and to others. I saw him as the future Ted Bundy, because that child could sure play a game on you if you let him. There were others, but no one wants to hear the stories I could tell about children. (or about the parents that raised/trained them)

When children are constantly told they are bad, it doesn't make any difference whether they are six, ten, or fifteen the chances of them taking their own life, or thinking about it, is humongous. In fact, the older the child, the more apt they are to take this action. Ten more likely than six, fifteen more likely than ten. That is what I was wondering about this child. Did he consider himself bad enough to deserve the same punishment as Saddam?

For every action there is a reaction.

How sad that a kid would do something like that. How sad that a 10 year old knew enough of the execution to try it.

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

Via Thers on Eschaton:



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/04/national/main2329468.shtml

But the real danger to children is an exposed nipple at the Super Bowl, right? :sarcasm:

But were YOU this stupid when you were 10 years old?

I liked Old West stuff when I was five or six, and by ten I was pretty clear on the fact that if I fashioned a noose, put it around my neck, and jumped off a chair, I'd be good and fucking dead. Experiment or no.

violent....

it sounds like they were just watching the news, which I'd find (at least in theory) commendable, since they want their kid to know what's going on in the world.

I'd ask why the hell they need to keep showing the footage of Saddam being hanged. I'm rarely on the side of the "too much violence on TV and video games" people, but in this case, does the media really need to show the execution? (Yeah, they don't show the actual death, just the rope being put around his neck, but that's like saying a woman who's wearing nothing but pasties is "technically" not topless--though ironically, the censors would go apeshit over a half-naked woman, but showing the lead up to an execution? No problem.)

But I was sometimes that depressed. You can't second guess what was really behind this incident. Accident or suicide, you would have to know a lot more about this boy and his family to have even an educated guess.

Poor folks who have saved lives in extraordinary situations and with risks to their own safety: one jumped on top of a man who fell onto the tracks in a subway station and two teamed up to catch a toddler falling from a high rise.

Guess where I'd rather live...

I remember these same accidents being attributed to western movies and TV shows.

Welcome to DU, KEVINSDESK.

And one that it breaks my heart to read about.

What the hell is going on?

The time limit is totally arbitrary, I'm sure a bi-partisan commission could come to terms that would whitewash the permitted time limit of a black woman's nipple on broadcast TV. As a compromise, the time limit might be reduced to high profile religious events like the Super Bowl. (Props to Whoopi)

In any event, the question that every parent must ask themselves is would you rather have your child jacking off to a nipple or would you prefer them to hang themselves in similar recreations.

I know there are many parents that are deliberating this decision on whether it's male or female nipple.

Bottom line: This is sad on so many levels. The response will likely be even sadder and just on one note that the child's parents are solely to blame.

How about no death penalties?

was. This ghoulish media fascination with executions is so sick and twisted I wanna just :puke:

I remember hearing the story back then. Don't know if it was true. Can't find a reference.

Kids are impressed with what they see on TV, though:

…small children often poked, punched or kicked the "Man of Steel" to see if he really was invulnerable. One alarming (and apparently fictitious) incident, depicted in the 2006 film Hollywoodland, had a youngster approach him (George Reeves) with a real loaded gun. Reeves gently took the boy aside and explained the dangers, that in doing so, the bullets could "bounce off me and hit someone else instead."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Reeves